THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY CITY IN THE 



WORLD 



Notes on Lhasa— The Mecca of the Buddhist Faith 



ByShaoching H. Chuan, M. D. 



Medical, Officer of the Chinese Mission to Tibet 



Photographs and Text Copyright by Dr. Shaoching H. Chuan 



URING the last century some ten 



foreign travelers have entered 



D 



JL-^ Tibet either as scientific explorers 

 or as political representatives. The pre- 

 cipitous, lofty mountains, and the distant 

 stretches of wild, uninhabited desert have 

 made the journey too great a task for 

 not a few of them to perform. Owing 

 to these diiUculties, together with the lack 

 of traveling facilities and the stubborn 

 resistance of the Tibetans, most of them 

 had to be satisfied with nothing more 

 than excursions into the regions near the 

 boundary line. Few ever succeeded in 

 seeing the interior of the sacred city, 

 Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. 



In the year 1904 the British military 

 expedition to Tibet succeeded in enter- 

 ing Lhasa. As a result of this expedition 

 much of the mystery and secrecy of the 

 Forbidden City was revealed, and Lhasa 

 no longer remained an unexplored relig- 

 ious center of the world. But the Eng- 

 lish did not have their curiosity satisfied. 

 The shortness of their stay, the natives' 

 suspicion of the white people, and the 

 objection to foreigners entering the va- 

 rious sacred places proved the main ob- 

 stacles to the realization of their wishes. 



When I visited Lhasa, with the Chinese 

 Mission to Tibet, in 1906-1907, I enjoyed 

 several advantages. In the first place, 

 having a Chinese official position, I did 

 not awaken any suspicion in the minds 

 of the natives. Furthermore, I was 

 equipped with all modern facilities for 

 taking records and photographs, and was 

 given the privilege of visiting places 

 hitherto and since denied to all foreign- 

 ers. My comparatively longer sojourn 

 in Lhasa also gave me ample opportunity 



for obtaining information and pictures 

 that are rare and unique. 



This article is written for the purpose 

 of giving the readers of this magazine 

 a brief account of the general character- 

 istics of Lhasa only. Details of the cus- 

 toms, manners, government, and religious 

 beliefs of the people cannot be given in 

 the limited scope of this article ; but I 

 hope that readers may be able to learn 

 much from the photographs, most of 

 which are the only ones in existence. 



Lhasa is situated in an impressive and 

 picturesque valley, 16 miles long by 2 to 

 4 miles wide, and 12,500 to 13,500 feet 

 above the sea-level. It is surrounded by 

 mountains ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 

 feet above the valley. The weather is 

 not excessively hot in summer nor bit- 

 terly cold in winter, for the high plateau 

 is above the reach of the heat waves, and 

 the still higher mountains seem to shut 

 off the freezing winds. The natives call 

 Lhasa "The Ideal City of the World," 

 and certainly not without reason, at least 

 as far as weather is concerned. 



Only two entrances, one at the eastern 

 ^nd and the other at the western end, 

 open into this isolated valley. Two high- 

 ways go out from the entrances — the one 

 on the east leading into China, and that 

 on the west into Upper Tibet and British 

 India. A large stream, called the Kichu, 

 flows in from the eastern entrance, winds 

 through the southern part of the valley, 

 and emerges at the west, finally joining 

 the Brahmaputra, which is one of the 

 important rivers of the world. 



As the traveler comes into the western 

 entrance an imposing view of Lhasa Val- 

 ley meets his eyes. The glittering golden 



959 



